Deep Ghost
by CheerfulChemist
Summary: Castle Halloween Bash 2017 Entry This is a one shot AU story that takes place during Rise. Castle receives a plea to protect Kate, from a surprising source.


Deep Ghost

Castle stood nervously in the dark corner of a parking garage. The voice on the phone had been mysterious. Even though he'd claimed to have been a friend of Roy Montgomery's he wouldn't give Castle any details about why he'd called, except that Kate's safety was involved. That was enough. He'd come so close to losing her. Even if she had no memory of his protestations of love, he couldn't bear the thought of facing that loss again. "Castle!" a strangely familiar voice called. A figure emerged, as if materializing from the shadows. "Montgomery? What is this, some kind of twisted joke? I saw Montgomery dead. I held Kate while she wept over his body. I helped carry his casket. Whatever you're selling, I'm not buying." Castle turned to leave.

"Wait, Rick, it's me! Remember that poker hand where you bluffed me into folding when I had three kings, and you only had a pair of deuces?"

Castle turned back angrily. "Anyone at the table could have told you about that. Or you could have heard someone laughing about it in the elevator."

"Would they have known about the obscenely expensive bottle of scotch that showed up in my desk drawer the next day?"

"Maybe," Castle said.

"How about what I said about watching out for my family when I called you to keep Beckett from getting herself killed at the airplane hangar. Remember what I told you about my daughter and the old rag doll she still kept hidden in a shoe box in her closet. How she thought no one knew about it, and how Evelyn always cleaned around it so it wouldn't be disturbed?"

Castle's heart banged against the wall in his chest. "How could you know that, unless you were intercepting Roy's phone call?"

The image of Montgomery rose until it was suspended a foot above the concrete floor. "I didn't have to intercept anything, Castle. I made that call, a couple of hours before I died. And I sent an express letter to an old friend, instructing him to call you if anything happened to me."

"You died? You're Montgomery's ghost?"

"Spirit, ghost; call me what you like, Castle. I just know that I can't reach my final destination until things are put right on this plane. I didn't get all the bad guys, Rick. Kate is still in danger. I need to protect her, and I need you to help me."

"Then why materialize here? Why not at the precinct where Esposito and Ryan can see you? You know they'd want to help."

The shade shook his head. "There are rules, Rick. I can only let myself be known to one mortal. Otherwise, my mission will go unfulfilled, and I'll be trapped between worlds forever."

"That seems a little harsh."

"I committed a lot of sins, and taking out a bunch of thugs didn't balance the scales. Saving Kate is my one chance to do that. Will you help me?"

Castle stared as the ghost wavered. "How could I do otherwise?'

"Then listen. The man behind all of this is named William Bracken."

"The William Bracken whose face is on the side of buses? The William Bracken who's running for Senate?"

"That's the one," the ghost confirmed, "but when I tied up with him, he was just a D.A. - and a dirty one. He controlled who was prosecuted and who wasn't. He had at least half the crooks in the city under his thumb. Somehow, he found out what Raglan, McCallister, and I did. He took our ransoms and used them to finance a campaign for Congress. But he didn't want to raise any more dust. He was willing to leave Kate alone, as long as she didn't get too close to who was really behind her mother's death. But now there's no way she's going to stop, Castle. Bracken has to be taken down before he kills her."

"I'll tell Kate. We can go after him together."

"Tell her what Castle?" Montgomery said. "That a ghost told you who killed her mother? She'll never believe that! And even if she did, if Bracken gets a whiff that she's coming after him, she will be dead, no matter how many shooters Bracken has to hire. Castle, you need to expose Bracken for what he is."

Castle stared angrily at the wavering image. "How the hell do I do that?"

"There's evidence, Castle, evidence I hid away. It's in an old fishing cabin upstate. Raglan and McCallister and I used to go there, but I'm the only one who's been there in years. Evelyn hates fishing. She won't go near the place. I thought I might take the kids someday, but that will never happen. I need you to go to the cabin and get the evidence. Expose Bracken to the world. That's the only way Kate will ever be safe again."

Castle closed his eyes, his teeth drawing blood from his lip. "Roy, I'd do anything to save Kate, in a heartbeat. You know that. But what if when I expose Bracken, he sends someone after my family?"

"I understand how you feel, Rick," Montgomery replied. "We'll figure out a plan together, one that will keep them safe. Just go to the cabin. Get the evidence. I'll be here when you get back."

"Alright Roy, I'll go."

* * *

Castle grimaced at the spider webs in every corner of the cabin. When Roy's ghost - damn, he still wasn't used to that - said no one had been there except him had been there, he hadn't been talking about the local wildlife. There were droppings everywhere, and the corner of a rag rug had been chewed off. Castle hated the thought of even touching the thing, but Roy had said that it concealed his secret cache. Castle kicked the rug aside with the toe of his hiking boot. He drew a multi-tool from the pocket of his coverall and used it to pry up a wide plank floorboard. The metal strong box was there, just as Roy had said it would be. He worked the combination the ghost had given him, Evelyn's birthday. The hasp of the lock didn't release easily, but Castle yanked it open. The evidence was there; records of bank transactions and a cassette tape. No one even used those anymore, but Castle had a player in storage; he'd recorded study material on it when he was a student. If the tape were still playable, he'd have what he needed.

* * *

After retrieving his old player from the basement of the loft, Castle loaded up Montgomery's tape. The playback was scratchy but comprehensible. One voice belonged to Montgomery. He was demanding out of Bracken's operation. Castle wasn't sure, he'd have to watch some of Bracken's political ads on the web, but the other man sounded like the slimy politician. Castle's throat burned as his stomach clenched. Bracken was bragging about killing Kate's mother and threatened to kill Evelyn and the kids if Montgomery refused to toe the line. To put a point on it, Bracken claimed credit for the demise of others who'd tried to cross him. Roy's voice shook and cracked as he begged Bracken to leave his family alone. In Montgomery's shoes, Castle could easily imagine pleading as fervently. He wished he could send Alexis and Martha somewhere safe, but it was his daughter's senior year at Marlowe Prep, and his mother had an acting school in which she'd invested every cent her late paramour, Chet, had left her. Castle couldn't dash Martha's dreams once again. He would have to be careful - very careful. Montgomery had said he had a plan. It was time to find out what the plan was.

* * *

"Roy, are you kidding me?" Castle exclaimed at the shimmering figure in the depths of the shadowy structure. You want me to challenge Bracken to a debate?"

"Castle, you know all kinds of celebrities. And you have the best memory for trivia of anyone I've ever met. Get one of the reporters you used to give you background on Rook, to put you on his show. Talk about Bracken's history and his record as a prosecutor and a congressman. Point out how it doesn't match up with what he's promising as a Senator. He's making himself sound like some kind of Messiah, Castle. And we both know he's the devil. Do it all in public, and he won't dare come after your family. The cocky bastard will accept your challenge. He'll be sure he'll defeat you on every point. Let him win a little, and when he's feeling secure, go after him, show your hand, play the tape in front of the whole world. Even if he claims what you have isn't true, forensics will prove that it is and the news outlets won't be able to wait to trumpet the story."

"How long have you been thinking about this plan, Roy?"

"It was in my dreams, Castle, even before Lockwood shot me. But I had some help. I'm not the only restless spirit walking the earth. A few media moguls are also searching for redemption. They gave me some ideas. The plan is going to work, Castle."

"You may be right, Roy. But I'm going to hire some security for Alexis and my mother first. And Kate too. I'll just have to make sure she doesn't know about it. Then I'll make some calls."

"You do what you have to do, son, but don't wait too long. Every minute Bracken is out there; another bullet could be aimed straight at Kate Beckett's heart."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Castle swore.

The plan went better better than Castle had hoped. His debate with Bracken was carried live on ZNN. He had memorized every position Bracken had ever taken and every speech he'd ever made. He also had copies of every document Roy had gathered and a top quality cassette player recommended by an audiophile friend. The hardest thing would be holding back.

Castle didn't have to hold back for long. Bracken's smirk when he scored his first point over Castle, told it all. The man couldn't conceive of losing to anyone. Bracken began lecture Castle about his experiences in his old neighborhood. He went on about how it made him vow to make the world a better place, instead of numbing minds with tales of gratuitous violence as Castle did. As Bracken pontificated, Castle pulled out his tape player.

"So, you abhor violence, Bracken?" Castle asked.

Bracken squared shoulders covered by a custom-tailored suit. "Except in defense of the citizens of this great country."

"Let's test that," Castle proposed. He pushed a button and held a microphone to his tape player. Stone silence fell over the audience as Bracken's words emanated from the speaker.

Castle snatched the machine away as Bracken reached to turn it off, his face flushing the color of the red stripes on his flag lapel pin. "It's not true. You phonied up the tape somehow!"

"I challenge you to bring in any acoustics expert in the world to prove that, Bracken. But you won't be able to. The tape is real. It's you who's a phony - and a murderous one at that."

* * *

Kate knocked tentatively on the door of the loft. "Beckett, what are you doing here?" Castle asked as he opened the door.

"I just came to tell you that…." She ran her tongue over dry lips. "Bracken wasn't the only one who lied, Castle."

"What are you talking about, Kate?"

"When you came to the hospital, I told you that I didn't remember what happened when I was shot. That was a lie, Castle. I remember everything. I remember the bullet burning into my chest. I remember you tackling me, trying to save me. And I remember you telling me that you loved me. I just wasn't ready to hear it. I was so angry at you. I blamed you for Roy Montgomery's death, for holding me back. I was sure I could have helped him."

"And now?" Castle asked.

"I know Roy meant to die to protect me. If you had let me go to him, If I had died, his death would have been in vain. It almost was."

"Then you're not angry at me anymore?"

"Angry at you? Castle, you've had my back every step of the way, even when I tried to kick you out of my life. I'm so sorry, Castle. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I just hope you can forgive me. We're more than partners. I know that. I've known it for a long time. I just couldn't deal with it before. But the walls have fallen now, Castle. You broke through them. I don't know how you found the evidence against Bracken. Maybe you'll tell me someday."

Castle smiled and shook his head, pushing back an errant strand of hair from her face. "Honestly, Beckett, I don't think you'd believe me. Let's just say the spirit of Roy Montgomery was with me."

"I guess I can accept that," Kate said, rising on her toes to frame Castle's face in her hands.

Castle pulled her inside and kicked the door shut, their lips colliding in long-repressed passion.

Roy Montgomery smiled as he was pulled toward the light.


End file.
